Our Smiling Lady of Hearth and Home and the sovereigns of heaven sometimes grant their champions special powers or seek to redeem a vile foe, infusing them with the essence of celestial flame. These righteous powers grant this gift only rarely, since its strength can remain in a bloodline for many generations. In fact, soulfire creatures occasionally become races unto themselves. Soulfire creatures may have bodies enshrouded by fire and have green-gold skin, hair, or scales, while some forms of soulfire radiate a blue, verdant green, brilliant gold or even white flame.

Creating a Soulfire Creature

“Soulfire” is an acquired template that can be added to any creature. A soulfire creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Soulfire Body (Ex): Soulfire creatures’ bodies gain some of the qualities of elementals. Each time a soulfire creature is exposed to a bleed, poison, paralysis, sleep, or stunning effect, it has a 25% chance to avoid it. In addition, there is a 25% chance that a sneak attack or critical hit deals no extra damage.

Special Abilities: A soulfire creature retains all the special abilities of the base creature, plus the special abilities as described below:

Breath Weapon (Su): A soulfire creature can breathe a 30-foot-long cone of soulfire (or substitutes an existing breath weapon attack) once every 1d4 rounds. The breath deals 1d8 points of damage per two HD to each neutral creature or 1d6 points of damage per HD to each evil creature and causes it to gain the blindness condition. Every creature in the area must attempt a Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the base creature’s HD + its Constitution modifier); a successful Reflex save halves this soulfire damage and negates the blindness effect.

Rapture’s Burn (Ex): A soulfire creature deals soulfire damage (+1d8 to neutral creatures, or +2d6 to evil creatures) in addition to the normal damage it deals on a successful hit in melee. Those affected by the rapture’s burn ability must also succeed on a Will save (DC 10 +1/2 the base creature’s HD + its Charisma modifier) or catch fire (though this is soulfire, not normal fire), taking same amount of soulfire damage for an additional 1d4 rounds at the start of its turn. A rapture creature can attempt a new save as a full-round action. Dropping and rolling on the ground grants a +2 bonus on this save. Creatures that hit a soulfire creature or a burning creature with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take the same amount of soulfire damage and must make a Will save (same DC) to avoid catching on fire (again this is soulfire, not normal fire).

Gaze of Rapture (Su): The gaze attack of a soulfire creature can cause ecstasy and damage to any non-good, living creature within 30 ft. The target must make a successful Will save (DC 10 +1/2 the base creature’s HD + its Charisma modifier) or suffer awe-inspiring euphoria that inflicts a circumstance penalty on attack rolls, skill checks and ability checks equal to the soulfire creature’s Charisma bonus (minimum -1), and also suffer soulfire damage (1d8 to neutral creatures, or 2d6 to evil creatures) each round for 1 round per CR of the soulfire creature. The flames can be put out as per rapture’s burn but the penalty due to euphoria remains for the duration.

Soulfire Substitution (Su): A soulfire creature can modify any spell, magic item, or effect with an energy descriptor to use soulfire instead as a free action. The effect’s descriptor changes to good and fire—for example, a cone of cold composed of soulfire energy is an evocation [good, fire] spell.

Skills: Soulfire creatures gain a +8 racial bonus on Intimidate and Knowledge (religion) checks; both of these skills are always considered class skills for soulfire creatures.

Soulfire

Half the damage dealt by soulfire is fire damage, but the other half results directly from holy power and is therefore not subject to being reduced by resistance to fire-based attacks.

Any non-good, living creature that would be killed by soulfire damage must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 +1/2 the creature’s CR + the creature’s Charisma modifier); failure renders the subject under the effects of a sequester spell with a permanent duration, caster level equal to the soulfire creature’s CR.